Transcendent Gene
Chapter 137: Farewell [5]

Chapter 137: Farewell [5]

Ricky was told to stay behind for obvious reasons.

"I’ll come see you in a little," Gio said while looking to him for understanding.

The matters they wanted to discuss were too political for him. It wasn’t just Ricky. Even Seb couldn’t listen into this particular conversation.

Ricky accepted it without much of a problem. He knew who the Old Lady was. In fact, the only reason he’d been so silent was because he was terrified of her status. He was like a deer in front of headlights who had no idea how to act.

Being given an opportunity to run away was the best thing that could’ve happened to him.

As he went home, Seb took Gio and the Old Lady to the Dome before separating from them. Meanwhile, the two of them went into the Old Lady’s office and made themselves comfortable.

"So? How did it go? If you’re being this cautious, I guess it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows?"

Gio had kept up with the Old Lady while traveling with the Blue Steel Squadron, however, it was only to the extent of letting her know he was alive and well. He was too busy most of the time to even pick up his phone.

"It was a good experience," he said.

"I learned a lot. More importantly, I grew a lot. I didn’t even have to use your emergency serums because of the medical bay they had in the zephyr."

He started off with something that assured her that he was never in enough danger to need those emergency serums.

And then he started talking about his experiences.

Thinking back, it all started slow, didn’t it?

Subjugating Yhien and doing duties with the secondary teams, training on the zephyr without achieving much...

It was a relatively ordinary routine until the vehicle delivery. The Old Lady listened intently, laughing as she heard him recollect how he had to empty the zephyr’s toilets.

Gio wanted to let her laugh for a bit longer, but it wasn’t possible.

During the vehicle delivery, he had to fight. It was important in context, which forced Gio to justify the Rune of Change by saying he accepted a Sequence from Raymond.

He told her about his fight with that dying djinn and of Bloodrend’s suspicious movements. She noticed the Apocalypse Church’s involvement in the details before he even brought it up, so she wasn’t surprised when he did.

However, she wasn’t able to hold it in when she heard about the beast control machine and the Hammer’s involvement. Her expression darkened even further when she heard everything else.

"Djinns and Asuras are making concerning movements alone and together. The notable organizations are all plotting something. It seems like the end times are coming," he said.

"Did you become a fanatic while you were gone? Are you also thinking about the ’end times?’" The Old Lady questioned.

Gio shook his head.

"No, but I think that they’ll create the end times with their own hands if they’re left alone. I didn’t get to see the beast control machine or the power suits myself, but from what I heard from the Captain and the team, the technology is already at a level that could cause disasters."

"Hmm..."

The Old Lady furrowed her brows.

She wasn’t expecting this kind of story. Gio didn’t come to her with recollections of adventure. He came to her with grave news that shouldn’t have been anywhere near him.

’But he pulled himself into these conflicts by aligning with those guys. Haa...even VNGRD is involved? A fourteen-year-old child should never have to bear the trauma of understanding VNGRD’s existence at that age.’

The immediate emotion in her chest was concern and frustration that her child had been put through such situations, but she was forced to drop it all when she saw his eyes.

’Traumatized?’

She almost felt like laughing.

’What part of that looks traumatized?’

Rather than that, the look in his eyes was certain, as if he was already plotting on ways to address his own concerns.

"...Do you have some sort of plan?"

She decided to entertain her suspicions. Gio had clearly changed in more ways than one.

"I actually do," he responded with some surprise in his voice. He didn’t expect her to agree so immediately.

"I want you to collaborate with the Blue Steel Squadron while they’re in the Wasteland. I think with your resources and protection, they’ll be a lot safer."

"Oho, so that’s how you want to play it," the Old Lady said with a smile.

"And what kind of connections could I have? I’m just a humble City Lord in this big world, aren’t I?"

"Right, right. I guess humble City Lords do sometimes forget that I remember what they looked like when we first met."

"Hmm...?"

The Old Lady’s voice raised in pitch as she lied so obviously that it was hard to even call it a lie.

"...was there something like that?"

She smiled. She’d never told Gio about her true identity or who she was in the past. His idea of her connections was very different from reality.

Far different in that even after reading her file, he couldn’t imagine how connected she really was in this era.

She considered it seriously; not as a favor for someone she saw as a son, but as a strategic move.

’This Raymond person...Gio said he was mutilated, yet he still continues to fight. I didn’t see him on the zephyr when Gio was stepping off. He must’ve hid himself from us to avoid causing problems.’

It was clear from the way Gio described him and from the actions she’d seen that he was a good person.

’If he has the authority to continue investigating a matter of this scale without being questioned by his superiors, he can’t be an ordinary mercenary either...why didn’t we find anything in his–’

"Ah..."

The Old Lady made a sound of understanding.

"What is it?" Gio asked curiously.

"Nothing," she responded, shaking her head.

"I just comprehended something. For now, put me in contact with your ’Captain.’ I’ll contact him and we’ll see where it goes from there."

Gio’s eyes lit up.

If she was willing to give them a chance, he didn’t have a doubt in his mind that they’d convince her to support them.

’I was able to prevent all of their deaths in the beast control facility. If I’m not wrong, their existence in this timeline is already different from the past.’

However, what if fate came to take them again?

Gio had to be certain that they’d survive, and the best way to do so was to give them the support of a great Healer and a haven in the Wasteland.

The Old Lady’s connections and backing could protect them from the politics in Strata above and her personal forces could aid them while they worked in the Wasteland. It was a perfect collaboration.

Yet, even Gio didn’t know how perfect of a collaboration it really was.

After all, Raymond’s backer in the military and the Old Lady’s allies in the Upper Strata...

Well, without realizing it, they were all already working towards the same goals.